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Babcock Australasia has announced the completion of a $7 million extension of its custom-built facility at Woodville North.
The new multimillion-dollar extension expands the $31 million cutting-edge facility, opened in October last year, which houses more than 100 staff working across nationally significant programs supporting the Collins Class submarine fleet and Hunter Class frigates and Defence’s Counter Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive program.
The expansion is expected to strengthen the company’s footprint in South Australia to support critical Defence projects, including AUKUS.
“Babcock continues to future-proof its capability through further expanding our operations in South Australia,” Babcock Australasia chief executive officer Andrew Cridland said.
“Our $7 million Woodville North expansion enables us to deliver critical current Defence priorities such as our work supporting key programs like JP 9101 and future national priorities, like AUKUS.
“We are excited to continue to expand our operations in South Australia; it allows us to support more jobs and provide exciting career opportunities to attract local, national and interstate talent to the state.”
The company has added two new 10-tonne overhead cranes to the site, which can be utilised on a range of different projects.
The expanded warehousing assembly hall also serves as a new bespoke production and test facility to support Babcock’s upgrade and enhancement of the nation’s Defence High Frequency Communications System (JP 9101), an $877 million program and Babcock Australasia’s single largest contract to date.
A team of 18 specialist engineers will work in the space where they will conduct required integration testing on the new communications system before it is deployed to sites across Australia.
The extension has grown the facility by an extra 50 per cent to now total 6,000 square metres of floorspace.
“This significant development not only reinforces South Australia’s position as a national defence manufacturing hub but also highlights the critical role local industry continues to play in supporting our sovereign defence capabilities,” Minister for Defence and Space Industries Stephen Mullighan said.
Babcock partnered with Commercial & General to deliver the expansion, supporting more than 100 construction jobs over the six-month build.
“We are privileged to continue our partnership with Babcock, delivering the second stage at Woodville North, supporting the expansion of their operations,” Commercial & General executive chairman Jamie McClurg said.
“Our team have earned a track record in the defence sector for their ability to execute with precision and are proud to be contributing to the important economic opportunity that AUKUS provides for South Australia.”
